The choice of CRM. Frequently asked questions and answers

After I wrote the article “What is CRM-systems and how to choose them correctly?” , I started receiving questions from readers about the work of CRM, the functionality of a particular system, possible add-ons and add-ons.

At the same time, many questions turned out to be of the same type and were even completely duplicated in letters and comments from different people. So I decided to write a small FAQ, i.e. list of the most frequent questions and answers to them.

Just want to remind you that any CRM system exists only for sales management, this is a system for automating and controlling customer relationships. It can be compared to a counter or a showcase. Here you can see what the seller and the product look like, what checks were on different days, what was the reaction of customers to this or that offer.

All that goes beyond the direct work with clients is a back office, the functions of which have nothing to do with the CRM system. This is very important for understanding my answers and working with the CRM system in principle. I work with small and medium business. It is also important for understanding my answers and tips that I give here.
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So, go directly to the questions.

Can I keep orders in the CRM system?

Not. For work with orders there are other software products.

What do they usually mean by this question? People want the manager in the process of telephone communication with the client immediately in the CRM-system could create an order, reserve for this order certain goods from the remnants, and, if necessary, could place an order to the supplier.

These functions are related to the accounting system, and they are simply not provided in the CRM system. It would seem that an order is part of the sale process. But at the same time, commodity balances, settlements, order to the supplier - all this relates to the accounting system used in your company.

So, if you want to reserve a product, this action directly affects work with the warehouse. And this - the balance, reserve for other orders, marriage, retirement, the posting of goods, etc. And it is impossible to reserve goods without the other functions of inventory accounting. And in the CRM-system tools for a full inventory accounting is not provided simply because it is intended for other purposes.

How is this problem solved?

The optimal method for solving a problem begins with the integration of the CRM system and your accounting system (for Russia, these are usually 1C software products). And regularly, for example, every 5 minutes there is a download to the CRM-system of data settlements with customers. And then at the time of the customer’s call, the sales manager can open the customer’s card in CRM and immediately see the situation with past orders and payments.

Every manager who works with product orders must have access to the commodity accounting system. And the order itself is created in this system, where you can see actual prices, balances, reserve goods in stock, etc. And the fact of the new order and its amount will be imported into CRM during the subsequent transfer of data automatically.

New contacts, on the contrary, are automatically imported from CRM into the company's internal accounting system, for example, after the manager indicates “Client” in the contact status. As a result, by the time the order is placed in the accounting system there will already be the necessary client card, and there will also not be time to create it.

It is important to understand that in the CRM system there is no concept Order, instead it uses such a concept as a Deal. Moreover, in the framework of a single transaction can be made many individual orders. All this should be reflected in the CRM system correctly, and therefore attempts to create orders in CRM are harmful not only from the point of view of inventory control, but also to sales management. In some systems, for example, in Megaplan, the ability to issue an invoice based on a transaction is implemented. But even I advise you to use these functions carefully or not at all. For each type of accounting has its own software.

Can you give examples of the positive effects of implementing CRM?

Of course! Moreover, when meeting with clients, I always repeat that you first need to understand why you are implementing a CRM system, what goals you are pursuing, and then choose the software and implement it.

The most important thing that any CRM system provides is the information necessary for making decisions. Without the use of CRM, the manager usually has the following information: he sees the settlements, turnover, customer debts. But at the same time, he has no idea how many calls this or that manager made, the number of meetings held, the average check at the negotiation stage, etc. Thus, the head owns the quantitative indicators of sales, but does not own quality. And can not assess the effectiveness of a particular manager.

The CRM system gives exactly the quality indicators due to its reports. For example, on the basis of reports you can see the ratio of the number of successful sales to the total number of meetings held.

For example, one manager held 5 meetings to conduct 2 transactions, and the other holds an even greater number of transactions without any visits to the client. In this case, the amount of orders they will be the same. Based on this information, the manager can analyze how necessary meetings are at all, determine who is working more efficiently, and think about how to optimize work.

Well, and move on to the promised real examples.

Example 1

At one of the firms where I introduced the CRM system, we found out on the basis of such reports that one of the managers conducted successful sales without any calls at all. The fact is, at least, strange. It quickly became clear that the person gave all his clients a mobile phone, and all contacts passed only through his personal number. For a company, this can be a huge disadvantage, for example, in the case of employee’s dismissal. But without the use of a CRM system, no one would have guessed this, since ordinary reports showed efficient, profitable work and nothing more.

Example 2

When introducing a CRM system in an enterprise, Lida and Clients were clearly distinguished. Based on these two categories, a report was created that showed how many leads went to a particular manager in a month, and how many of them became clients as a result, i.e. made out the order.

At the end of the first month of working with CRM, the company's management obtained interesting results. One of the managers received incoming calls (leads) even more than others. And the percentage of clients among them was much lower than among colleagues. Before the introduction of CRM, the difference in managerial performance was not so noticeable. In terms of financial turnover, this employee was slightly behind the others. But in order to get these sales, he needed a lot more incoming calls. How so?

It turned out that the manager stutters. Naturally, this feature significantly reduces the effectiveness of telephone sales, people with similar speech defects are simply not suitable for this position. Sadly, we had to part with the manager, but as a result, the sales department increased the overall performance.

Example 3

The introduction of any CRM-system is in some way mandatory cataloging and standardization of work, because now all managers with all clients will work in a common system. The results of the implementation process itself are also interesting.

I had a client - a company engaged in selling the services of various teachers and tutors. Each manager kept his own Excel file with clients and services sold. At the same time, the sales system was so confusing that even managers and those could not always quickly and clearly answer the cost of the services of a teacher and justify this figure, which, naturally, did not in the best way affect the level of sales and customer confidence.

The introduction of the CRM system forced them to put the entire list of teachers into a single list and assign a certain category to each person and service. As a result, there appeared a clear common gradation for all. And now managers began to sell not just “Ivanov’s tutor,” but were repelled by the level of customer needs. Learning from home is more expensive than distance learning. Teacher training of the first category is more expensive than similar, but from a specialist of the second category, etc.

The introduction of a clear and understandable pricing system for customers has had a positive effect on sales volumes and simplified the work of managers.

Can I keep track of costs in the CRM system?

Not! CRM-system is intended only for working with sales.

On the one hand, many people are guided by this logic. In the CRM system, we work with sales. But any sale is also a certain cost. Someone binds to the sales of managers' salaries, someone gives a gift to a client, someone makes bonuses. And all this, it would seem, is tied to the transaction.

In fact, to account for costs, you need to distribute them. Such concepts as a cost item, distribution base, distribution coefficients appear. It is necessary to understand what is distributed and in what proportions, etc. All this is not in the CRM system. There is only the transaction itself, to which these costs relate. And all the other tools to work with costs are missing. For this kind of work you need not a CRM, but an ERP system .

Is it possible to take into account in the CRM system of sale and everything connected with them?

Not! If you buy a CRM-system as a software product, such extensive accounting functionality is not provided in it.

As in the case of the previous question, to account for sales, you need an ERP system .

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning, enterprise resource planning) - an organizational strategy for integrating production and operations, human resource management, financial management and asset management, focused on continuous balancing and optimization of enterprise resources through a specialized integrated application software package that provides a common data model and processes for all areas of activity. ERP-system - a specific software package that implements the strategy of ERP.

Wikipedia

Is it possible to use foreign services in connection with the updates in the law on personal data, which entered into force on September 1, 2015?

Issues related to changes in the Federal Law on Personal Data have recently appeared very much. Let me remind you that on September 1, 2015, the requirements for the storage of confidential information of citizens of the Russian Federation on servers located in Russia came into force.

What for users of CRM-systems can turn this law? So far, the requirements of this law are so vague and complex that it is impossible to give an unequivocal answer than it will turn out for users of this or that system. Almost all experts and users are in standby mode.

What can be done in such a situation and what to choose? I believe that you need to choose the system that suits you. Without regard to the country of origin. On the one hand, it’s not a fact that all Russian CRM systems are located on Russian servers. On the contrary, it is reliably known that many Russian developers are actively using foreign resources because of their reliability and at the same time favorable prices. So, even if you buy the Russian system, it’s not a fact that your data will be stored in the territory of the Russian Federation.

It is also not very clear what is meant by “confidential information”. There are certain explanations, but most of them are recommendations. In general, at this stage, the work of this law raises more questions than answers.

I personally believe that the choice of a CRM system depends solely on your tastes and needs. So far, there has not been a single case where any complaints were made against CRM systems and other similar commercial projects. Moreover, if you are a small or medium-sized business (and I work with these segments), you have nothing to worry about. You are too small and uninteresting for our regulatory authorities in this matter. I think that they will be occupied by large companies and websites for a very long time. Therefore, you can work calmly, as before.

How expensive or cheap is the introduction of a CRM system? And how to calculate its payback? How to understand it is needed or not?

Every businessman seeks to calculate in advance the economic benefits and feasibility of introducing a new product. And because these questions are quite natural. How to determine how profitable the CRM system will be for you?

I propose the following formula: take the volume (amount) of sales and divide by the number of managers. Thus, you get the average amount of income that one manager brings to your company. For example, it will be 30,000 rubles. And now compare this amount with the license of the CRM-system for 1 computer, for example, it will be 3,000 rubles. It is clear that at the same time the cost of optimizing the work of the sales department is not comparable with revenues. And the CRM-system will be an additional advantage, which, with competent guidance, will help increase the amount of income and make the work of managers more efficient. And if your manager on average brings you about 20,000 rubles, and your chosen system requires up to 10,000 rubles per workplace per month, then you should think about whether you need this system? Most likely, it is worth looking for a cheaper option or even do without CRM.

In general, the CRM system is convenient for managers, as it helps them to automate part of the work, serves as both a reference book, an organizer, and an assistant in optimizing their personal workflow. CRM is also an excellent analytical tool for a manager who provides quality indicators for the sales department and helps to identify weak points in the work process. With proper use of CRM will help increase efficiency and, consequently, sales. But it is important to remember that CRM is not a panacea, but just another working tool, and if your turnover does not allow to implement and apply it painlessly, the best solution would be to find a less costly solution, and use CRM for the future.

Is the statement true: “CRM is sales, and we are in sales for a long time, therefore we can handle the implementation of CRM ourselves”?

Not! I quite often heard this statement from my clients at the decision stage to use a CRM system, but later they turned to me for help. A significant role in the formation of such an opinion is played by the companies-manufacturers of CRM systems, who write that everything is intuitive in the implementation process.

In fact, this is not so: like any software product, CRM has its own implementation features, advantages and disadvantages. And if you want to effectively implement the CRM system, you need to contact the experts. It is often possible to find such a specialist directly on the manufacturer’s website.

I highly recommend it: do not be under the illusion that implementing CRM is very simple. Do not buy into phrases like “Less time - more sales”. All CRM systems are not a ready-made system, they are a constructor that you must first set up for yourself.

On the issue of unsuccessful implementation of CRM-systems

Clients often ask about the successful experience of implementing CRM systems. But apart from this, I am also telling about unsuccessful cases, because I believe that it is very important to understand not only what leads to success, but also what leads to failure.

So, what leads to failure:

1. The general level of training managers. The first to resist the introduction of a CRM system are the heads of sales departments, no matter how strange it may sound. As a rule, the idea of ​​using a CRM system belongs to a business owner who wants to increase the transparency of the work of managers, to evaluate their work from an objective point of view, in contrast to the subjective opinion given by the head of the sales department. For a business owner, CRM is a control tool that makes it possible to be less dependent on the head of the sales department. For the head of the sales department, it is important to maintain the status quo. Also, the introduction of CRM reveals a general lack of readiness of staff to changes in the company. There is such an indicator as labor productivity - with the introduction of a CRM system, labor productivity increases. But the intensity of labor also rises, because in the same period of time a greater amount of work needs to be done, as management control rises. Many employees do not stand it and go.
   Often there is a boycott at enterprises: active or passive - you can read more about this in my article “Implementation of a software product. Features of the business consultant. Part III. Final
2. Lack of funds. If you are starting CRM implementation, you need to calculate your financial capabilities. There was a case in my practice when a client refused to implement, because he was not ready to spend. As I wrote above, many people think that they will cope with the implementation themselves, but during the work many technical issues arise that require contacting specialists, and therefore entail additional costs. You need to be prepared for this and count on your financial capabilities.
3. Unpreparedness to technical difficulties . Often, customers rely on fast implementation of CRM. In practice, things can get longer, and this also needs to be prepared. This is due to some technical issues. This is especially true for the integration of CRM systems and accounting systems. You need to understand that there are no ready-made integration modules, they are created, as they say, as a client. And accordingly, after the creation of the integration, a test period is needed for its verification. Not all of my clients were ready for this, they did not want to wait, but wanted to get everything at once.
4. CRM system is not needed at all . One of my clients introduced a CRM system, but after a short period of time, the system was no longer used as unnecessary. It turned out that the client has 7-8 transactions for a week, and this is not such a voluminous material for analytics. Therefore, in order not to waste time and money, carefully analyze your business in order to understand whether you need CRM

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